(KRON) – Monday marks the second annual recognition of the Juneteenth national holiday here in the United States. KRON4 spoke to the Oakland President of the NAACP about the best ways to celebrate the holiday
"I think we should have a party. I think we should have talks. Roundtable discussions. Celebrations. Everything,” said Cynthia Adams, the president of the Oakland branch of the NAACP.
That includes, Adams says, reflecting on what Juneteenth is.
"I think the best way to celebrate June 19th is to know the history,” she said.
History reveals that in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved Black people in the U.S. However, Black folks in Galveston, Texas didn’t get the message until sometime around June 19, 1865. It was a glorious day, says Adams, because it meant the end of over 300 years of chattel slavery.
“I can’t even imagine how happy they were,” Adams said. “If we both put ourselves in that moment and close our eyes and think about how it was for them and then open their eyes and see that they are free. They were excited, happy, and jumping for joy. I know I would have been.”
But not for long, she says, because there was a lot of work to do.
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"I probably would have been somewhere organizing something to get us out of there, and get us doing what we need to do for each other,” she said.
In 2021 President Joe Biden’s signature took Juneteenth from an African-American cultural celebration to a nationwide holiday to be celebrated by all.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/g4MWowQ
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